w-semCaptivity and Freedom

Topic outline

General

Captivity and Freedom

Have you ever found yourself drawn into a story of abduction and the return of the victim to society? The captivity narrative is a flexible, durable, and popular genre. At their core, these are gripping stories of survival that also challenge and create our culture and identity. Traditionally thought of as nonfictional accounts of the capture of a white person by Native Americans on the frontier, ending with their redemption, this class will examine many ways to write about and on captivity. The possibility and threat of border-crossing is central to these stories, and issues of race and gender are always present. Several early American captivity narratives will be read, but we will also examine more recent captivity narratives that center on alien abduction and more.